While the rest of sports Europe stands still because of the corona pandemic, Belarus is running as usual with both football and ice hockey in the country's highest series. Series that previously engaged few outside the country's borders.

This has led to unexpected income.

Never before have so many people seen Belarusian top football on television. Television viewers in a number of football-hungry countries have focused their attention on the country's highest ranking, one of Europe's least glamorous leagues whose teams rarely reach the group stage in the Champions League, as there is no other live football to see.

Sold rights to ten countries

According to the Reuters news agency, the Belarusian Football Association has sold TV rights to ten different countries, including Russia, Israel and India.

"This is a situation we have never experienced before," says Alexander Aleinik, a spokesman for the union.

Yesterday, 3000 spectators visited derby between Dynamo Minsk and FC Minsk, which the latter team won by 3-2. The temperature of the spectators was checked at the entrances.

The Belarusian league kicked off last week, and right now the country has no plans to cancel it despite the corona crisis that is raging in much of the world. In Belarus, 94 people have been confirmed to date infected.

Lukashenko: "The civilized world is going crazy"

- Why wouldn't we play? Do we have a state of emergency in our country? This is not a serious situation, which is why we are starting the season as usual, said the Football Association President Vladimir Bazanov recently.

The country's president Aleksandr Lukashenko dismisses the outbreak of the corona and the pandemic.

- It's just a mass psychosis. It will benefit some people and harm others. The civilized world is going crazy. It is totally insane to close the boundaries. Panic can hurt us more than the virus itself, says Lukashenko according to ESPN.